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Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Things I Love & Hate. At The Same Time.

You know how you can have a love/hate relationship with someone or something? Friends, mates, jobs, churches, parents? Meaning: sometimes you love that person or thing and other times, well . . .

Yet as 2013 winds down I realize there are elements in my life that I love and hate at the same time. There’s no pendulum, no changing moods or feelings, just simultaneous loathing & adoration.

Here they are:

1. The food from Omaha Steaks. Man, is that stuff good. But boy, are their daily phone calls to our house annoying. When we see the dreaded 402 area code pop up on Caller ID, we know not to answer it.

2. When the Carolina Panthers play well. I love celebrating with this city when Cam Newton flips his way into the end zone and when the team wins the NFC South. I hate what home games do to GSUMC attendance. Ever since 2008, there have been no Panthers playing in January and attendance skyrocketed as a result. This year . . . sigh. People: you can go to 8:30 or 10:00 and still get there in plenty of time for a 1:05 kickoff on January 12!

3. December 31. Can’t wait for the day off on January 1. Can’t believe another year has passed.

4. This blog. I love it when I get a post “right” — especially if it elicits some cheers and some boos from the Methodist world. I hate that I feel if I miss a day I’m not doing my social media job.

5. The encouragement from people in the church. If you know me well, you know that words of affirmation are my love language, and so I am buoyed by people’s compliments. Why do I hate that as well? Because with no little frequency, those same people move away. I just found out that two people I love dearly at Good Shepherd are moving back to Australia. Australia! They won’t be popping in for a weekend very often, will they? Fair dinkum.

6. (Yes, SIX today.) Fasting. I love the physical blessing and spiritual dependence that comes from a good day of fasting. But then I hate having to brush my teeth all day and feeling . . . well, you know, hungry.